CPRA vs FTKI

CPRACCalamos Russell 2000 Structured Alt Protection ETF – April

FTKIBFirst Trust Small Cap BuyWrite Income ETF

In short

CPRA Small caps without the trapdoor. CPRA uses options on IWM to aim for zero downside across a one-year April-to-April period, and pays for it with a hard ceiling on gains that Calamos resets each spring.

FTKI Most Russell 2000 income funds own the index and sell calls on it. FTKI runs an actively picked basket of roughly 300 US small caps, then writes index-level calls over the top: income first, appreciation second, paid monthly.

Stated mandate

CPRA The fund seeks to participate in the positive price return of the Russell 2000 up to a defined cap while protecting against all losses during a one-year outcome period, before fees and expenses.

FTKI The Fund seeks current income first and capital appreciation second. It primarily invests in small-cap equities listed on U.S. exchanges and writes exchange-traded calls on the Russell 2000 Index or small-cap equity ETFs.

Why people hold it

• CPRA The bargain is spelled out in the prospectus: shield against all losses over the full outcome period (before fees), upside stopped at a cap reset every April 1.calamos.com
• Costs 0.69% a year, under the median for Russell 2000 options funds it competes with.
• A different bet than the covered-call crowd. RYLD and IWMW sell calls for income and still ride small caps down. CPRA skips the income and puts the chips on protection.
• The reference is IWM's price return, the small-cap benchmark most investors already know, not a bespoke back-tested index.

• FTKI Two moving parts, one wrapper: an actively chosen small-cap stock portfolio underneath, calls on the Russell 2000 or small-cap ETFs written over the top.ftportfolios.com
• The mandate puts current income first and capital appreciation second, and the cash goes out monthly.ftportfolios.com
• Roughly 300 US-listed small caps sit under the options overlay, spreading the equity risk across the bench instead of a short list of names.

Worth knowing

• CPRA The protection math is stated before fees and expenses and runs start to finish of the outcome period. Step in or out mid-period and your cap and cushion differ from the headline terms.
• No income stream. Russell 2000 dividends sit outside the options structure, and the fund has not been making distributions.
• Young, small and thinly traded since its 2025 launch, so wider spreads are more likely than with the category's giants.

• FTKI At 0.86%, it prices above index-run Russell 2000 call writers such as RYLD and RYLG. Active stock selection is what you are paying the difference for.
• Writing calls swaps upside for premium. When small caps run hard, the overlay limits how much of that run the fund keeps.ftportfolios.com
• Launched in 2025 and still a small, lightly traded fund, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than the category's heavyweights.

Full CPRA profile⁠

Full FTKI profile⁠